


Surface Tension

by stardustgirl



Category: Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Found Family, Jedi, Jedi Temple (Star Wars), Jedi Training (Star Wars), Prophecy, The Force, also kell has qui gon vibes rn BUT i promise he'll get rid of them soon dw, he'll be a muchhh better master lol, someone help vin shes small and shes babey, the summary sounds like a romance but idk how romantic its gonna actually get rip, there'll be a timeskip fairly soon but, we'll still get flashbacks don't worry !, yee kriffing haw guys its au time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:47:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22594297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustgirl/pseuds/stardustgirl
Summary: When the Clone War begins and planets start to take sides, Vin is sent to infiltrate the Separatist Confederacy as the heir of House Renoux as a final test before her Knighting.  She's been preparing for years now for her first solo mission, however what she isn't expecting is for the son of one of the most influential senators in the Confederacy to begin paying a little too much attention to her.
Relationships: Dockson & Kelsier (Mistborn), Kelsier & Vin (Mistborn)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	1. PART ONE: truth of the shadows

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is entirely too self-indulgent oops but a few people seemed to like the idea so why not post it lol
> 
> ALSO: This chapter takes place eight or so years before the rest of the fic. It's not _technically_ a prologue, but I suppose it also kind of is...? who knows at this point lol
> 
> TW: Child Abuse

Nar Shaddaa is not the ideal place to grow up.

Of course, that had never mattered to Vin upon her arrival here when she had been younger and still traveling with her brother. All that had mattered to her then was sticking close enough to Reen she could grab his coat if necessary, but still far enough away she could easily scramble out of range of his punches. And food. Food, too, had mattered.

Now, all that matters is her is that Camon doesn’t beat her for messing up their con earlier.

She’s holed away in an alcove now, close enough to the vents she can scramble up into them if needed. Camon’s still not back from his trip to the bar, though, so maybe she’s safe for the evening.

Of course, as soon as she thinks that, she hears voices outside.

“—ttle of Malastare Narrows!”

“Yes, and he would like to come in.”

There’s the sounds of shuffling before Vin hears the door shut.

Now she’s curious.

She reaches up, pulling the vent cover off and pulling herself up inside. She closes the vent behind her and begins crawling through the shaft.

She stops right before the shaft leading above the smuggling den’s main room. She’s content to observe for now.

A blonde-haired human she doesn’t recognize is below, standing beside another human with much darker hair. The dark-haired one is speaking to Milev, something about a con. Milev is giving off a vague aura of wariness as well. That’s about the extent of the details she can make out from up here, though her Luck is humming in her brain more than it usually does.

 _Stop it, leave me alone,_ she thinks, hoping to ward off the humming. It doesn’t work, of course.

The blonde looks straight up then, blue eyes piercing, and Vin shrinks back in the vent.

“Excuse me,” the man says, gaze still on her vent, “but you have someone spying on us. Please tell them to come down.”

“Of- of course, I apologize, sirs—” Milev stutters until the blonde cuts him off.

“No apologies. Just get her down.”

“We don’t have a girl here, beyond Vin, but she’ll be in the back room—”

“I don’t believe she is,” the newcomer says, eyes still locked on her. Vin shrinks back further. “Come down. We mean no harm.”

Vin’s Luck _pushes_ her to trust him.

Slowly, she creeps forward in the ventilation shaft, eventually reaching the vent cover and prying it open. She sticks her legs through and slides down, landing in a crouch.

Before she can run, Milev has her by the arm, forcibly turning her to face the newcomers. She ducks her head defensively, though still tries to twist away.

“It’s okay,” the blonde says, raising a hand in a placating manner. “If you won’t run, he’ll let you go. Will you run?”

She hesitates before shaking her head, and the human nods to Milev. Camon’s deputy releases her with a grunt and she rubs her arm where he held it, ducking her head and allowing her hair to cast her expression into shadow. _I need to cut it again soon._

“You’re Vin, right?”

She glances up at the blonde. “And if I was?”

“My name’s Kelsier. This is Dox.” The dark-haired man dips his head in greeting, and it’s only then that Vin notices their clothing.

 _Robes? What associates of Camon’s would wear_ robes?

“How old are you, Vin?” Kelsier asks.

“I dunno,” she says, shrugging. “Nine?” Kelsier and Dox exchange a glance.

“What do you want with me?”

“Hold your tongue, girl,” Milev mutters, cuffing her on the back of the head. She flinches, ducking her head again.

“Don’t touch her,” Kelsier says, taking a step forward. Vin flinches back further and he freezes, shooting her an indiscernible glance before stepping back again.

“We can continue this meeting with her in private,” Dox says, finally speaking for the first time since she was discovered. Milev’s hesitation is obvious even though she can’t see him, but finally he steps away.

“Clear out!” he calls.

“Here, for the use of the space,” Dox says, flipping what looks to Vin like a cred chip to Milev. The man catches it, turning it over briefly before nodding and walking out with the others.

“Oh, and pass the message to leave on to the people behind the wall,” Kelsier adds. Milev stops mid-step, hesitating only a moment before taking out his comm and speaking rapidly into it. He pockets the commlink and continues out; within moments the pair of Rodians behind the fake wall follow the others out.

Once Kelsier seems satisfied that everyone is gone, he turns to Vin.

“Take a seat.”

Hesitantly, she walks to one of the many barstools scattered around the room, pulling it up to the table Kelsier and Dox are already sitting at.

“What do you want with me?” she asks again.

The two men exchange a glance.

“Do you know who the Jedi are, Vin?” Dox asks, expression completely neutral.

“Yeah. They’re a group of monks with laser swords who kill criminals.”

They exchange another glance before Kelsier bursts out laughing.

“Vin...the Jedi are….”

“She’s not entirely wrong,” Kelsier interrupts as Dox struggles to collect his thoughts. “But, ah, there is likely a much better way to put it.”

Dox nods as Vin’s face flushes. “The Jedi are a group of Force-sensitives. Do you know what the Force is?”

She shakes her head, falling silent again.

“The Force is an energy. It surrounds us, penetrates us, binds the galaxy together. Does that make sense?”

Again, she shakes her head, and a slight frown slips onto Dox’s face.

“Here, I got it. Vin, can you tell me what you feel?”

She opens her mouth to speak when suddenly she can feel someone _else_ in her mind. _Out, out, out!_ her mind yells, and the intruder disappears as quickly as they came.

Kelsier nods as she blinks, mouth opening in stark amazement. She rises, shoving her chair back as she trembles. “You—was that _you_ in my—you were in my—!?”

“Just a touch,” Kelsier says. “ _That_ was the Force. It gives you certain...abilities. Many of which are related to the mind. All living beings, but particularly all Jedi, like Dox and I, have a strong connection to the Force.

“And you, Vin, have the same abilities as the Jedi,” the man says, lowering his voice. She blinks. “Normally, the Jedi are aware of the births of any Force-sensitive; I’m not entirely sure why we missed you.”

“It’s probably because I’m here,” she says, gesturing to the building—and, by extension, the planet—around them.

“Either way, we were lucky to find you now.”

She only nods, gaze still distrusting. She’s not sure why he’s putting in the effort to convince her that they’re both Jedi; if he was a slaver he could have grabbed her ten times over by now.

Somehow, the fact that he hasn’t makes her halfway willing to trust him.

“So why are you still here?” she finally asks. “Why haven’t you left? Don’t you have important...Jedi business?”

“We stopped here for fuel originally, but...Dox and I sensed you.”

“You still haven’t told me why, exactly, you wanted to talk to me.”

“You see, Vin, I have a...theory.”

“Here we go again,” Dox mutters under his breath.

Kelsier continues despite the comment. “To test it, however, I’ll need a blood sample from you. Is it okay if I take one?”

She steps back, shaking her head slowly and wrapping her arms around herself. “No.”

“Alright, alright. I won’t if you don’t want to,” he says, raising his hands. “But...would you mind coming to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, at least?” Before she can open her mouth to speak, he’s already set to work convincing her. “You can leave the Temple at any time you want, and I’ll fly you wherever, whether you want to come back to Nar Shaddaa or even go to Alderaan. Your choice. I just think you should at least _speak_ to the Jedi Council, and see what you think after that.”

She ponders the offer. Free passage on a ship, in exchange for speaking to a group of overtly religious monks. Just speaking to them once. She already knows she won’t like the Temple, or Coruscant; it was hard enough for her and Reen to find Camon’s crew here and Nar Shaddaa was much less populated than the city-planet.

But still, free _legal_ passage on a ship sounds much better than stowing away in a cargo hold like she and Reen did so often.

“Okay,” she says. “I’ll come with you.”


	2. PART ONE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Past Child Abuse, Abandonment Issues, Referenced Injury, Hypothetical Self-harm

_Eight Years Later_

* * *

There’s a soft knock on her door. “Vin?”

“Come in,” she calls without looking up.

Kelsier enters, approaching and leaning against the wall as she works on rethreading her needle. “There’s droids who could do that, you know.”

“I know,” she answers. “But I like doing it myself.” She doesn’t say her real reason why, doesn’t mention that she remembers getting beaten by Reen and tearing the cloth of her shirt trying to escape his hold, doesn’t add that she’d always had to either repair her clothes—or, what was more likely back then, just had to leave the holes as they were until she could steal new ones—on her own back then.

“Suit yourself,” he says, shrugging. She finally gets the thread through the eyehole and knots it before jabbing it into the bunched-up fabric of her spare tunic. She pulls it through with a vengeance, remembering the way the battle droid’s fire had ripped through the same cloth days earlier and grazed her abdomen. _It won’t happen again,_ she’d promised herself then, and she promises herself it again now.

“Why are you here?” she finally asks, poking the needle through the other side.

“Oh, you know, just a new mission assignment. We’re due to meet the Council about it in...oh, half an hour hour,” he says nonchalantly, glancing at his chrono.

Vin jumps, accidentally stabbing her thumb as she lets out a quiet squeak. _Some dignified Padawan_ you _are,_ Reen’s voice mutters in her head. _Stabbing yourself with a_ needle? _You could take your own head off with those lightsabers of yours._ She shoves his voice away.

“In _half an hour?!_ Master, you can’t just- you can’t just walk in here and stand there when we have a meeting with the _Council_ in _half an hour—_ ”

“Vin, Vin, calm down,” Kelsier says, raising his hands placatingly. She eventually does, though her chest is still clenched tight because she’s running late to a meeting with the kriffing Council and _Kelsier,_ by _Force,_ is still just _standing there_ with that furiously smug grin on his face and—

“Vin. Calm down. We’re not meeting with the whole Council. They already sent me the message—they wanted me to tell you, and then we could comm a couple of them—probably just Dox—if we had any questions. Okay?”

“Okay,” she says, irritated he tricked her. “But don’t _do_ that again, alright?!”

“I won’t,” he replies. “Promise.”

Vin nods.

_The man who wants you to trust him is the one you must fear the most, and this is just an example of why._

She pushes Reen’s words away again.

“So what’s the assignment?” she asks, once she’s sure her nerves are finally calmed down enough.

“You know how the Separatists already have a formal government set up?”

“Semi-functional, but yeah,” Vin replies, remembering Kelsier’s many repetitions of the differences between them and the Separatists.

 _Them_ being the Republic or the Jedi, she has never been able to parse out from him.

“Good. Well, there was a rather convenient...opening made available on Raxus recently. You’ll be attending their next Senate session as the heir to House Renoux, should you agree.”

“And what’ll happen if I say no?”

Kelsier shrugs. “They’ll probably just give the assignment to someone else. Sazed was the one to recommend you, actually, because of all the researching you do about elsewhere, and Dox seconded it as soon as it was brought up. Though I _do_ think you’d be a good fit for it...it’s your kind of fight.”

Vin returns to the sewing, if only to keep her hands busy; though remains standing. “What is?” she asks, not looking up from the needle.

“Subterfuge. Deception. Lots of running around in the dark. You’d get to wear fancier stuff than even ceremonial dress, too.”

She glances up from the robes then. “And what makes you think I’d _want_ to?”

He shrugs. “You’ll never know unless you put it on, right?”

She rolls her eyes at that. “And when would I leave?”

“Tomorrow.”

Vin blinks in shock, setting the robes and needle down for good this time. “Oh.” After a moment, she asks quietly, “When would we get back?”

“Vin, I- that’s not...it wouldn’t be us. It’d be _you._ ”

_Oh._

_If you let someone get close to you, it will only hurt worse when they betray you._

Kelsier leaving her alone to this isn’t a betrayal, though, just...a test.

 _And what kind of Padawan needs to be tested by_ abandonment? _One with abandonment_ issues, _that’s what,_ Reen whispers in her mind. She suppresses a shiver.

“And what if- what if I forget something?” she asks. “What if—”

“Vin, plenty of your other agemates have gone on their solo missions and been Knighted or are preparing to be Knighted soon already. It’s a part of preparing for your Trials. You can do it. I know you can. Just hold onto the Code, and you’ll be fine,” he says, stepping forward and resting his hands on her shoulders. She doesn’t flinch away; she’s learned that touch isn’t all bad by this point.

 _And what if I forget?!_ her mind screams. _What if I forget the Code and revert back to the thieving orphan you found on Nar Shaddaa? What if I ditch the Order and just go my own way without looking back? What then?_

Her mind’s constant vulture circles are the primary reason she’s never fully opened up her end of the bond they share, and she’s never been more glad for that now.

 _If he could see inside your head now, see how much you doubt everything he’s taught you...he’d take you back to Nar Shaddaa_ himself _if he was allowed._

Vin wants to scream.

Instead, she nods slowly. “Okay,” she whispers. “I accept the mission.”


	3. PART ONE

“Now, remember—“

“—don’t talk about the Jedi, and if I do, be negative or neutral about them; don’t voice my opinions in general unless I’m directly asked or I know for a fact it’s one that the Separatists share; act entitled.” Kelsier raises an eyebrow at her answer, smirking.

“And where did the ‘act entitled’ one come from?”

“Inference from your lessons and what else you’ve said about them,” Vin replies. “And I’m supposed to be impersonating a noble. What _else_ would I do?”

Kelsier shakes his head, chuckling. “Gotta hand it to you kid, you’re good at this.”

 _‘Good at this?’ What is_ this, _and what does it mean that I’m good at it? Does he mean acting like a noble?_

“Thanks, I guess?” she says, shrugging and offering him an awkward laugh. He pulls her in for a hug.

“You’ll do great,” he murmurs. “I know you will.”

“Thanks.”

_He’s just saying that because he’s supposed to._

He nods and pulls away from the hug after a moment, moving to ruffle her hair before pulling back. “Probably shouldn’t mess that up, Miss Renoux.”

“Maybe not,” she agrees.

“Commander, are you ready?” Vin and her master turn to see one of the clones, Sazed, leaning halfway out of the ship. She nods.

“Yeah. I’ll be right there.” She nods to Kelsier before turning, following Sazed up into the ship. The doors close, and they leave Kelsier and the Jedi behind.

* * *

They’ve only been in hyperspace an hour when the door to the room she’s locked herself away to meditate in slides open.

She turns to shoot a glare at whoever opened it, already preparing to tell them that she needs a minute when she sees a droid.

It’s an astromech—or at least she thinks it is, she’s never been good with droids—but if so it’s a model from a series she’s unfamiliar with. It beeps shrilly as it rolls in, leaving the door open.

“Yeah, I _am_ the Jedi, good job for being _so_ observant,” she replies dryly, rolling her eyes. “It’s Vin. And if you’re gonna stay, shut the door?”

The droid responds with a flat beep before doing so, rolling back over to her to introduce itself as 10-S00N.

“You can stay, if no one else needs you, I guess. But you’ve gotta be quiet. I’m meditating.” She closes her eyes once more as the droid squeaks to a stop beside her.

She’s only had her eyes closed for about five minutes when the droid beeps.

“What?” she asks, cracking an eye open. “Yes, I’m fine, just meditating like I said. I’m not dead.” The droid lets out a beep that sounds almost _defeated,_ and she allows herself a small smile before closing her eyes completely again.

* * *

_“We’re sending you in as a member of House Renoux. Your alias will be Lady Valette Renoux.”_

_“Why can’t I keep Vin?”_

_“Because there_ is _a Jedi named Vin, and there_ isn’t _a Jedi named Valette. Anyone suspicious of you could just slice into our records and look you up,” Kelsier explains. She nods slowly._

_“And what am I supposed to do if they figure me out?”_

_Kelsier’s half-smile fades to an expression of grim apprehension._

_“Run.”_

A low beep jolts Vin from her mind’s wandering and she blinks, turning to see 10-S00N tilting his dome towards her slightly.

“We’re out of hyperspace already?” The droid beeps in the affirmative and she gets up, wincing at the ache in her legs from holding the same position for hours. The droid follows her out to the cockpit.

Sazed greets them at the door, nodding. “Do you want to go over anything again?”

“No,” she says. “I’m...I’ve got everything.” Sazed nods, and once again the motion reminds her of the roles they’ll both have to play.

“Good. We’re getting clearance for landing now.” She steps forward as the pilot answers the comms.

“ _This is Raxus, hailing unknown vessel. State identification number and reason for coming to Raxus._ ”

The pilot begins corresponding with landing control and 10-S00N gives a quiet, sarcastic beep that Vin can’t help but chuckle at. Sazed raises an eyebrow.

“I didn’t know you were fond of droids, Commander. And I didn’t know TenSoon had it in him to be...charismatic towards sapients.”

“Oh, I’m not,” she replies quickly, as the droid shrieks in the negative. “We just...apparently, we share an opinion on landing control.”

Sazed’s mouth twitches into a smile. “You should probably go get changed now, Miss Valette. And me as well, I suppose.”

“ _Clearance granted,_ ” a voice over the comm interrupts. “ _Land in hangar Besh Two Three Five._ ”

“Copy that,” their pilot says. Vin turns to go change before they land, the astromech trailing behind her and Sazed both.

Vin changes into one of the dresses the Council sent with her, frowning at its bulkiness before tucking her robes into a false bottom of one of the drawers. She takes half a moment to brush through her hair before pinning it back as best as she can, sighing into the mirror before exiting her cabin.

Sazed and 10-S00N meet her in the corridor. Sazed is wearing the typical guard uniform of Onderon, and the astromech looks about exactly the same as before; Vin’s not entirely sure what she was expecting in his regard, however.

“Ready, Miss Valette?”

She nods. That’s the hardest part of this whole mission, she thinks—the taking of a fake name, a fake personality, a fake _life._

_Then again, isn’t that what you’ve been doing with the Jedi since Kelsier and Dockson brought you in all those years ago?_

She pushes Reen’s voice out, annoyed; he’s usually near silent whenever she’s off Coruscant. Residual jitters, maybe?

She follows Sazed and 10-S00N toward the exit of the shuttle.

As Vin steps off of the ship, she has to resist the automatic urge to wrinkle her nose at the opulence of the space port. Sure, it’s nothing she hasn’t seen before, but she still isn’t used to it, not even after eight years.

 _You’re supposed to be_ used _to this,_ she reminds herself. _You’re impersonating the heir of some noble. That means that you’re supposed to be expecting_ more _than this._

She casts a cursory glance around the spaceport, trying to see if there’s any other people of note. She catches sight of a young man disembarking a ship similar to hers across the landing pad, reading from one datapad while holding two others in his arms. She mentally scans through the people in the briefing Kelsier had subjected her to before she left.

_Venture. It’s the Venture kid._

10-S00N trills sharply, breaking her out of her reprieve. “What is it?”

“He has a point. We should head to our lodgings during the session, Miss Valette,” Sazed says quietly, and Vin nods.

“We...we should. Let’s go.”

The three exit the landing pad, and Vin can’t help but shoot another glance at the Venture boy over her shoulder.

 _Reading? While_ walking? _What kind of noble_ is _he?_

_If the rest of the Separatists can act like they have time enough to do that, no wonder the war hasn’t ended already._


End file.
